Health department urges vaccine, testing during Hepatitis Awareness Month

JACKSON, Tenn. — May is Hepatitis Awareness Month.

Those recognizing the month include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Jackson-Madison County Regional Health Department.

The health department says that the most common types of hepatitis are hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C, all of which can infect the liver.

“Hepatitis is a serious, but preventable virus if the proper preventative steps are taken such as vaccination, making healthy lifestyle choices, and knowing your health status,” Epidemiologist Shanna Shearon-Wilbanks said.

The department says the hepatitis A is vaccine-preventable, can be spread through the fecal-oral route or by contaminated food and water, and can cause fatigue, low appetite, stomach pain, nausea, and jaundice.

Meanwhile, hepatitis B can be transmitted by sexual contact, the sharing needles or other drug-injection equipment, or from mother to baby at birth, the health department says. CDC says the the vaccine for hepatitis B should be given to infants at birth and to adults at risk.

Lastly, the department says that hepatitis C currently has no vaccine, but it can be treated and cured.

The department says in the past it was able to spread through blood transfusions and organ transplants, but now most can receive it by sharing needles and other equipment to inject drugs.

“In today’s world of emerging and established diseases that cannot be prevented with vaccinations as of yet, we are lucky to have such a high rate of protection with the hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccines,”Shearon-Wilbanks said.

The health department offers hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccines and can test for hepatitis C.

The CDC says anyone born between 1945 and 1965, and anyone at risk, should get tested for hepatitis C.

To get a vaccine for hepatitis or to be tested, call (731) 423-3020.

You can find more about hepatitis from the CDC here.

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